Bursting machine



June 17, 1941. c. L. WINTER BURSTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 26, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 \IIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllli June 17, 1941. c, 1;; WINTER BURSTING MACHINE s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, 1940 722622207 izarZeS Zzflz'nier. mm; @m mc/ fimu.

June 17, 1941. c. L. WINTER BURSTING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 26, 1940 i! VII/111111 June 17, 1941. c. WINTER 2,245,223

BURSTING MACHINE v Filed Feb. 26, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 f? 5,4243%; M22; @m'a, M fl/401020.

June 17, 1941.

c. L. WINTER 2,246,228

BURSTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 26, 1940 6 Sheets-Sheet5 Patented June 17, 1941 BURSTING MACHINE Charles L. Winter, Chicago, 111., assignor to United Autographic Register 00., a corporation of Illinois Application February 26, 1940, Serial No. 320,948

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a bursting machine adapted to separate continuous-form stationery into separate forms by automatically pulling the forms apart along preformed lines of weakening in the stationery strip.

Heretofore, continuous-form stationery which had been used in tabulating machines, Elliott- Fisher machines, Address-o-graph machines, and the like, was delivered in a single strip and it was necessary to separate the form by tearing them apart manually. This operation is not only time consuming but frequently the forms were not torn apart carefully and ragged edges remained where the formshad been connected together.

Ihe primary object of the present invention is to provide an automaticcontinuously operating machine wherein it is only necessary to feed the end of the strip into the rolls and it will automatically separate the forms properly and stack them seriatim in superposed relation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic bursting machine'which may be readily adjusted to accommodate forms of various lengths or widths. l

The invention is illustrated, in preferred embodiments, in the accompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 is a broken side elevational view of a machine embodying the invention in preferred form; Figure 2, a broken plan view of the same; Figure 3,a fragmentary sectional view, taken as indicated at line 3 of Figure 1; Figure 4, a broken elevational View, showing another embodiment of the invention; Figure 5, a fragmentary elevational view of one form of the stacking device; Figure 6, a broken plan view of the machine illustrated in Figure 4; Figure 7, a sectional view taken as indicated at line 1 of Figure 6; Figure 8, a fragmentary elevational view of the rear feed-rolls shown in Figure '7; and Figure 9, a plan view of the rolls shown in Figure 8, showing by dotted lines the curved gripping surface on the upper feed-roll.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in Figures 1-3, inclusive, a table is provided having an intermediate platform II which serves as a support for a stack of continuous-form stationery l2 fed into the machine. A driving motor I3 is also mounted on the platform and drives the movable parts of the mechanism by means of a sprocket chain [3a.

For the purpose of uniformity the entry side of the machine is considered the front, so that the stationery passes from the front to the rear.

A pair of standards 14 are mounted on the top of the table and in these standards are journalled a pair of front feed-rolls I5 and a pair of rear feed rolls It. The machine has a forwardly extending entry portion ll which is provided with guides [8 which are laterally adjustable by means of winged nuts [8a. a

Frequently the continuous-form stationery comprises a number of superposed strips which are connected at one marginal edge by gluing, stapling, or the like. In order to separate the connections between the strips, the connected marginal portion may be trimmed off by means of adjustable trim knives I9. The scrap IZa, which is trimmed off, may be directed down through a chute 20 provided in the table and discharged into an underlying basket. As shown in Figure 3, a guide-roll 2| is provided in the standards I4 and serves to directthe stationery strip around a large portion of the periphery of the lower feed roll IS. A guard member 22 is hinged above the feed rolls, as indicated at 22a, so that it may be swung out of the way during the loading operation. The upper feed roll I5 is provided with vertically movable journal blocks |5a and is urged downwardly by a cross-bar 23 through compression springs 23a. A fixed crossbar 24 extends between the standards l4, and a screw 25, provided with a hand wheel 25a, is rotatably mounted in the bar 24 so that the pressure between the rolls [5 may be adjusted. This pressure regulates the grip of the front rolls and hence the tension on the stationery extending between the two pairs of rolls. As the tension grade ually increases until the strip bursts atthe line I of weakening, less pressure is required on longer marginal edge portion of the stationery than the other, so that when the line of weakening bursts, it progresses from one edge to the other. This is an important feature in providing a clean straight separation of the form.

In rear of the rolls I6 is another feed device comprising upper and lower feed-rolls 21. This feed device serves to feed the separated forms into the stacking device on the rear of the table. A bail 28 is hinged to the upper feed-roll shaft so as to direct the separated forms onto the stacking device.

The stacking device comprises a tray 29 which is hinged to the rear of the table, as indicated at 29a. The tray has a rear and laterally extending abutment 3!) which is adjustably secured to the tray 29 by means of a finger nut 30a. As shown in Figures 1 and 3, the tray is held upwardly by means of a crank arm 3| provided at one end with a roller 3| a. The crank is pivoted to the standard [4, as indicated at 3112,

and has an arm 3 lo which is urged forwardly by a tension spring 32 provided with a screw 33 extending through a stud 33a on the standard M to an adjusting finger nut 33!). The spring pressure is arranged so that the tray 29 is urged upwardly towards the rear feed device when there are no forms in the stacking device. However, as the forms are built up into a stack, their weight presses the plate downwardly against the tension of the spring 32 and automatically accommodates the device to the height of the stack. This assures the forms being properly received, seriatim, into an orderly pile.

The various feed-rolls and trimming device are all driven in timed relation by the electric motor I3. One end of the lower rear feed-roll shaft is provided with a sprocket wheel 34, which is driven by the chain l3'a and the other end of the shaft is provided with a hand wheel 35 which is useful in turning over the machine by handduring the loading operation. The shaft of the roll l6 has a sprocket Wheel 36 which drives a larger sprocketwheel 31 on the lower front roll by means of a sprocket chain 36a. Thus it will be seen that the rear feed-rolls travel slightly faster from a motor (not shown) through a sprocket chain 49a. The clutch merely serves to permit the rolls to be turned over by hand without moving the motor. The roller 46 is provided in its periphery with a transverse series of feed segments 46a.

An upper feed-roll 50 is yieldingly mounted in journal blocks 58a which are urged downwardly by compression springs 58b. As shown in Figures 7 and 9, the roller 50 is provided with a narrow feed segment 500 which is adapted to cooperate with feed segments 4611 on the lower roll and firmly grip the stationery during a part of its revolution. As will be clear from the dotted lines in Figure 9, the segment 500 is curved spirally so that it may grip the stationery 12 at one marginal edge first and progressively tear the line of weakening from that edge to the opthan the front feed-rolls and it is this action that 2 .1

produces a tension in the paper and results in a bursting of the strip into separate formsat the line of weakening. The shaft of the lower roll 15 is provided with a gear 38 which drives intermeshing gears 39 of the cutters I?) through idler 3 gears 33a, 38b, and 380.

The lower rear feed-roll is provided with a gear 45 which drives the rollers "27 by means of gears 40a and 40b.

Aswill be readily understood, the machine is loaded by turning the rollers over by hand and threading the stationery through the cutters l9, around roller 2| and between the sets of rolls l5 and I6 to the rollers '21. For short forms, i. e., where the lines of weakening are close together, considerable pressure is applied to the rolls l5 by means of the hand wheel 25a. This reduces the amount of slippage of the strip between the rollsand is adjusted so that each line of weakening will'burst before it reaches the rolls I6. For longer forms, less pressure is applied to the rolls l5 and it is thereby readily adapted to accommodate forms of different lengths by an easy adjustment of the pressure. Once the device has been loaded and adjusted, the motor can be started and the forms can be separated with great speed and Without requiring further attention.

In the modification shown in Figures 4=-9, inclusive, the same result is accomplished in a slightly different manner. I'his modified machine is mounted on the top of a table and has a lower feed-roll shaft 46 journalled in standards 41 and is provided with a clutch head 48 having a sprocket wheel 49 adaptedto be driven posite edge. The rolls 4B and 50 are driven with the same peripheral speed by means of a pair of intermeshing gears 5| and '52. In rear of the rolls 45 and 5D is a feed device having a lower feederoll 53 which is driven from gear 5|, in timed relation thereto, by means of gears 53 a, and a compound gear 53b.

As best shown in Figures 6 and 7, an upper presser roll 54 is journalled in an arm 54a fixed to a rock shaft 55 which is journalled in the standards 41.

As shown in Figure 6, one end of the lower feed-roll shaft 45 is provided with a hand wheel 55 and a cam 51 which serves to periodically raise the presser roll 54 by upward pressure on the arm 542). In this device, the advance of the front portion of the stationery is completely arrested While the rolls 46 and 50 pull the stationery: apart. The front portion of the stationery is held during this operation by means of an upwardiy movable clamping bar 58 which is urged downwardly against a fixed cross-bar '59 by means of compression springs 5811.. The ends of the bar 53 are engaged by crank arms 60 fixed to the rockshaft Bl. The shaft 6| is also provided with fixed rock arms 62 carrying rollers 63 which ride on cam wheels. fixed to the shaft 45. Thus it will be understood that the presser bar/58 is normally held in its upper non-clamping position, until it is permitted to be lowered by a flat on the cam 64. The cam is timed so that this occurs while the segments 46a and 500 are engaging the stationery and pulling the forms apart at the interposed line of weakening.

In this form of device, it is necessary to feed the stationeryinto proper alignment with respect to the bursting device so that the line of Weakening will be in proper interposed relation. The aligning device is mounted on a carriage 65 which may be moved longitudinally along a rack 66 by means of a gear 55a and hand wheel 61. Alignment is accomplished by means of two pairs of narrow feed disks 68 which are adapted to feed the paper along until they encounter a pair of perforations [21) in the stationery. At this point, having nothing to grip, the disks turn idly, and as the presser roll 54 is also raised at thistime, the advance of the stationery stops.

The upper feed-roll shaft, as shown in Figure 6, is provided with a re-starter cam 6811 which will cause the feed to be resumed when it reengages. the paper. The disks 58 are driven in timed relation by means of a pair of intermeshing gears 59. The lower shaft is provided with a gear 10 which is driven from a bevel gear ll by means of ,a' spur gear 11b and an idler gear 12.. *Intermeshing bevel gear 13 is journalled on one of the standards 65 and is splined to a shaft 14 which is driven from the shaft 46 by means of a pair of bevel gears 15. Thus it will be understood that the aligning device, although adjustable longitudinally to handle forms of different lengths, is always driven in timed relation to the clamping mechanism. A presser roller 16 is provided on a cross-shaft l1 and is normally urged into contact with the advancing stationary by means of a spring 11b.

The stacking device, illustrated in Figure 5, is somewhat similar to the form shown in Figure 3, and has a tray member 18 hinged to the table, as indicated at 18a, and is yieldingly urged upwardly by means of a leaf spring 19. The tray has a rear abutment 80 which is longitudinally adjustable by means of a winged nut 80a. Lateral guides 8i are also provided. In this device, as in the other device, the weight of the stationery will cause the tray 18 to swing downwardly against the pressure of the spring and accommodate the increasing height of a stack of forms.

To operate the modified device, the aligning mechanism on the carriage 55 is adjusted on the rack 56 so that when the perforations are engaged by the feed disks 68, the line of weakening between the advanced sets of forms will lie between the clamping bar 58 and the rolls 46 and 50. The stationery is threaded into the machine by rotating the hand wheel 56 and the machine is then ready to be power driven. The stationery is advanced by the disks 68 until a set of register perforations are encountered. At this point the feed stops, the clamping bar 58 is lowered, and the segments 46a and 500 on the rollers pull the advanced set of forms apart. The advanced forms are fed into the stacking device by the rollers 53 and 54 and when the cam raises clamping bar 58, the re-starter 68a engages the stationery and feed is resumedby he disks 68 until the next set of perforations is encountered and the bursting operation is repeated. These operations are continued automatically until all of the stationery has been burst into separate forms stacked on the tray 18.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom for some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A machine for automatically bursting a continuous web of stationery into separate forms at lines of weakening between forms, comprising: a frame; a pair of front coacting feed-rolls journalled in said frame; a guide r011 journalled in the frame adjacent to one of said front feedrolls so as to direct a web of stationery into frictional contact with a substantial portion of the periphery of the roll before said web is gripped between the rolls; and a pair of rear feed rolls journalled in said frame and driven in timed relation to and slightly faster than the front rolls, said rear rolls being disposed so as to apply increasing tension in the web between the pairs of rolls progressively from one edge to the other.

2. A machine for automatically bursting a continuous web of stationery into separate forms at lines of weakening between forms, comprising: a frame; a pair of front coacting feed-rolls journalled in said frame; a guide roll journalled in the frame adjacent to one of said front feedrolls so as to direct a web of stationery into frictional contact with a substantial portion of the periphery of the roll before said web is gripped between the rolls; a guard-member hinged to the frame above the front feed-rolls and depending so as to shield the entry side of the front feed-rolls and guide roll; and a pair of rear feed rolls journalled in said frame and driven in timed relation to and slightly faster than the front rolls, said rear rolls being disposed so as to apply increasing tension in the web between the pairs of rolls progressively from one edge to the other.

3. A machine as specified in claim 2, including a fixed guide for the web between the pairs of feed-rolls, and an upwardly swinging guide above said fixed guide to confine the web and guard the entry side of the rear feed-rolls.

CHARLES L. WINTER. 

